Developed for the City of Atlanta Student Movement
Commission, 2013

February 1, 1960 — Four young students at North Carolina
A&T conducted their first sit-in demonstration.

February 3rd, 1960, Lonnie King confers with Joseph Pierce and Julian
Bond regarding organizing a Student Movement in the Atlanta University
Center. All agree to organize a movement in the Atlanta University
Center.

February 5, 1960, first meeting of prospective movement participants met
in Sale Hall Annex at Morehouse College. Approximately 15 students
attended. The attendees were predominately Morehouse Men, however, James
Felder, President of Clark College Student Government attended
representing Clark College.

February 12, 1960, Lincoln's birthday, was set as the date of the first
sit-in. Unable to get a sufficient number of students to participate,
the initial sit-in was re-scheduled for February 19th.

February 17, 1960, Lonnie King, Julian Bond et al, were summoned to a
3:00 P. M. meeting in the conference room of the Council of College
Presidents in Harkness Hall for a meeting with the six college
presidents. All college presidents were in attendance, along with
elected student government leaders from the six Atlanta University
Center schools.

The presidents spoke in turn and expressed their opinions of the
proposed sit-in movement which they had heard was forming in Atlanta.
Dr. Clement, president of Atlanta University spoke first. He was
followed by Dr. Mays of Morehouse, Dr. Manley of Spelman and Dr. Brawley
of Clark. All four men discouraged students from participating in the
movement. They argued students should focus on their class work and let
the NAACP fight the racial battle. However, when Dr. Brawley of Clark
spoke, he asserted that he would be embarrassed if the students staged
sit-ins in downtown department stores.

The next speaker was Dr. Harry V. Richardson of ITC. He hesitated for
approximately 10 seconds before he spoke up. When he did speak, he
shocked all by stating that the students were right in challenging
segregation directly. He related that he was a highly educated man,
president of a college, but because he was a Negro he also could only
eat at segregated lunch counters in downtown Atlanta. The next speaker
was Dr. Frank Cunningham of Morris Brown College. He strongly backed up
Dr. Richardson and re-iterated his support for the student movement that
was sweeping the South. These latter comments apparently caught Dr.
Clement off guard. However, before he spoke as chairman of the Council,
he asked who would speak for the students. At that point, Lonnie King
spoke up and argued that the time had come for the Negro community to
come together and end segregation in the Atlanta.

At this conclusion of King's speech, it was suggested by Dr. Rufus
Clement that prior to any demonstrations, a manifesto should be written
expressing to the Atlanta Community and the world what the grievances of
the students were. Clement suggested that it should be a full page
advertisement which should be placed in the daily newspapers. (The
Atlanta Constitution, the Atlanta Journal, and the
Atlanta Daily World ). Dr. Clement agreed to raise the necessary
monies.

Lonnie King appointed Rosalyn Pope as editor, and included Morris
Dillard, Albert Brinson, Julian Bond, and Charles Black to assist her.

Lonnie King, Charles Black, Don Clarke, James Felder, Mary Ann Smith,
Marian Wright, Johnny Parham, John Mack, Otis Moss, Gwendolyn
Middlebrooks, Albert Brinson, Norma June Wilson, Ruby Doris Smith,
Benjamin Brown, Lydia Tucker, Robert Felder, James Wilborn, A.D. King,
and others began organizing for the first sit-in. A.D. King recommended
that the first sit-in be conducted on March 15, 1960. He referenced
"Beware the Ides of March" as the basis for his suggestion. (Note: This
was the date 44 B. C. when Julius Caesar was assassinated. It was noted
in Roman history as a fateful date). The students voted to not tell the
presidents about the sit-ins beforehand because if state officials
threatened the tax-exempt status of the school, the presidents would
have plausible deniability.

The presidents and the student leaders met each week until May of 1960
for updates, etc.

March 3, and 4, 1960, Dr. Lonnie Cross leads his class to sit-in at
Rich's. They were served the first day, but refused on the second.

March 5th — Lonnie King meets with Dr. Clement to get
his support for a coordinated, centralized effort amongst the various
student bodies regarding the staging of the sit-ins.

March 6, Dr. Clement calls a meeting at Ware Hall of all Atlanta
University students to discuss coordinated efforts. Lonnie King and Dr.
Clement make presentation for a coordinated effort that includes
representatives of all institutions. Dr. Cross, who was in the meeting,
objected to this approach. He clashed with Dr. Clement on this point to
his detriment.

March 7, 1960, Pope informs Lonnie King that she has not received any
help from the other members of the drafting committee except Julian Bond
who provided data from A Second Look. King requested that she complete
the document because it was due for review by the Council of College
Presidents on March 8, 1960.

March 8, 1960, the student leaders met with the presidents and presented
An Appeal for Human Rights. The document was reviewed and, with minor
adjustments, approved for publication. Dr. Clement had raised $12,000
for the publication of the advertisement. He reported that the ads would
cost $4000 [equal to $31,00 in 2012]. He stated he would keep the
remaining $8000.00 in a separate account at Atlanta University for
future use by the Student Movement.

March 10, 1960 — the Governor of Georgia, Ernest
Vandiver condemns the Appeal, citing that it was well crafted, but no
college student in Georgia could have written it. He contended that it
must have been written in Moscow. Mayor Hartsfield was more temperate
and praised the Appeal as "a message of great importance to Atlanta."

On or about March 12th, Senator Jacob Javits of New York inserts the
Appeal in the Congressional Record and the New York Times
published the Appeal as a full-page advertisement for free. On April 2,
1960, the Nation magazine published the Appeal as a full-page
Advertisement.

March 10, 1960 — small group of students from AUC attend
My Fair Lady performance at Municipal Auditorium. Spelman
attendees were J. Preston Cochrane and Lenora Taitt. From Clark were:
William Ves Harper, a drama professor, James Murray, Robert (Tex)
Felder, and Henry Chavers. A young white professor at Spelman had
purchased the tickets for the "white orchestra section." There
appearance flustered the attendant who then summoned the manager.

March 15, 1960, students from all six institutions, at precisely 11:00
AM, attempted sit-ins at restaurants located in tax-supported
institutions. Peachtree 7th St. Bldg, Greyhound Bus Station, Trail ways
Bus Station, Atlanta City Hall, Fulton County, and the State Capitol.

77 students were arrested. The thrust of this effort was to obtain a
"test-case" for prosecution by NAACP lawyers.

March 16, 1960, representatives from the six affiliated instirutions
meet to form the Committee on Appeal for Human Right (COAHR). The
student leaders agree that there should be three members from each
institution, and the institution from which the Chairperson is selected
could have four members. The original committee follows:

Lonnie King was elected as Chairman, John Mack from Atlanta University
is elected as Co-Chairman, Benjamin Brown is elected as Treasurer, and
Mary Ann Smith is elected as Secretary. Following is a listing of the
representatives of the respective institutions: Atlanta University: John
Mack, Johnny Parham, and Willie Mays; Clark: James Felder, Benjamin
Brown and Lydia Tucker; Morehouse: Donald Clarke, Albert Brinson, and
Julian Bond ; Morris Brown: William Hickson, MaryAnn Smith, Robert
Schley; ITC: Otis Moss, James Wilborn, Marion Bennett; Spelman: Marian
Wright, Josephine Jackson, Roslyn Pope.

On or about May 1, 1960, Dr. Clement insists to Lonnie King that all
whites be removed from the Movement. He feared that some were
Communists. Lonnie King refuses his demand and Dr. Clement withdraws his
support by ordering Lonnie King to find some other place to hold
meetings.

May 2nd, 1960, Lonnie King meets with Dr. L.M. Tobin, pastor of
Providence Baptist Church, seeking his approval to move the headquarters
of the Movement to the basement of his church. He agrees, but on the
condition that "you cannot stay too long."

On or about May 3rd, 1960, the Movement relocates to Providence Baptist
Church.

On or about May 10th, 1960, COAHR call for a May 17th, 1960, march on
the Georgia State Capital honoring the anniversary of Brown v. Board
of Education.

May 15th, Lonnie King, speaking at the Georgia State NAACP Convention
being held at Morehouse College, announces that COAHR was sponsoring the
march on May 17th.

May 16th, 1960, The Atlanta Newspapers publish the proposed march for
the 17th.

May 17th, 1960, President Mays attempts to stop the march, citing the
possibility of violence. Lonnie King disagreed respectfully and March
proceeded. Approximately 3600 students participated in the march.

May 18th, 1960, Governor announces he is having the State Attorney
General investigate the tax-exempt status of the six Atlanta University
schools.

June 2, 1960, The Student-Adult Liaison Committee is organized. Reverend
William Holmes Borders is elected Chairman and Lonnie King is elected
Co-Chairman. Mr. John Calhoun was elected Secretary and Mrs. Nina King
Miller is elected as Treasurer.

June 24, 1960, Lonnie King, Carolyn Long, Dr. Howard Zinn, Mrs. Zinn,
and their daughter attempt to dine in Rich's Magnolia Room, to no avail.
No one was arrested, but Lonnie King is taken to police station for a
meeting in Chief Herbert Jenkins office. When Lonnie King arrives, he is
ushered into Chief Jenkins' conference room, where Dick Rich is waiting.
Rich argues that he is a "liberal" and that he has been very benevolent
to causes in the Negro community. He further states that he does not
like being singled out for sit-ins.

Rich threatens Lonnie King with jail if he brings his "black ass" back
to his store again seeking to be served in any one of his restaurants.
King informed him that he would be back in the fall and would bring
hundreds of students with him. At that point Rich stormed out of the
meeting.

The COAHR begins plans for the "Fall Campaign."

June, 1960, the student newsletter The Student Movement and You
is published, with 20,000 copies distributed each Sunday at Negro
churches.

June, 1960, weekly meetings were held throughout Atlanta between COAHR
representatives and community representatives discussing why there was a
need to boycott Rich's and downtown Atlanta.

Last week of June, 1960, Mr. Kossuth Hill meets with Lonnie King and
offers to establish a new newspaper, named The Atlanta Inquirer.

July 31, 1960, first issue of Inquirer is published. Students
make up most of the staff. The first editor was William Strong. The
"grunt" work of the newspaper was borne by Julian Bond, James Gibson,
John Gibson, Charlayne Hunter, Eddie Billips, and J. Lowell Ware.

August 3rd, Atlanta sit-in case is filed in federal court against city,
county and the state of Georgia. This was the first case to be filed in
the sit-in movement. Filed by A. T. Walden and Donald Hollowell.

COAHR held weekly meeting with a large number of community groups
throughout the summer in all sections of town.

Gladys Knight and the PIPs presented concerts throughout the summer to
push the movement.

On or about August 8th, 1960, Kneel-In Campaign begins at several white
churches.

Late August, 1960, Lonnie King requests Martin Luther King to accompany
the students and be arrested voluntarily for the first time. The
rationale for the request was that the presidential election of 1960
between Richard Nixon And John Kennedy was being conducted and the issue
of Civil Rights was never being discussed, especially the activities of
the 70,000 Negro college students in the South who were defying
segregation laws by sitting in and demanding freedom now. Lonnie King
explained to Dr. King that his arrest would place the Sit-In Movement on
the agenda of the presidential campaign throughout the nation and the
world. Dr. King agreed to join the students on October 19th, 1960.

Lonnie explained that the plan must be approved by COAHR's Executive
Committee in September.

October 18th, Lonnie King asks Herschelle Sullivan who had just returned
to Spelman in September after spending a year in France to call Dr. King
and tell him to meet me at the Rich's Cafi on the Bridge at Rich's.
Lonnie King did not make the call at the time because he was speaking to
Spelman students who were assembling for the next day's activities.

A few minutes later, Ms. Sullivan returned stating that Dr. King was not
coming due to a previous arrest in DeKalb County when he was driving on
an expired tag. At the time he and his wife Coretta were taking Lillian
Smith to the airport after having dinner. Lonnie King told Herschelle to
continue the meeting with the Spelman ladies and he would go and speak
to Dr. King. As background, Lonnie King had been a member of the
Ebenezer Baptist Church since April of 1945, and had known Dr. King and
his family very well.

When Lonnie King got Dr. King on the telephone, he asked why had he
changed his mind? On the telephone, through extensions, were "Daddy
King." Wyatt T. Walker, et al. Daddy King tried to carry the
conversation, but Lonnie King ignored him and spoke directly to Dr. King
Jr. He reminded Dr. King that Atlanta was his home and he could not lead
this movement from the back. He had to lead it from the front. Dr. King
agreed and told Lonnie King that he would meet him the next morning on
the Bridge at 10:00 AM (Further documentation can be found in a recently
published book by Jeff Clemmons entitled Rich's: A Southern
Institution.

October 19th, 1960, several hundred students staged sit-ins throughout
Atlanta with a large number of arrests. Students vowed: "Jail-no-Bail."
Dr. King was in the crowd and was arrested. Author Clemmons explains
thoroughly what happened after the arrest in his aforementioned book on
Rich's.

October 22, COAHR calls a truce to demonstrations at the request of
Mayor Hartsfield, who wanted 30 days to attempt a settlement between the
students and downtown merchants,

October 23, 1960, students released [from jail] as result of "truce"
arranged by Mayor Hartsfield.

Martin Luther King Jr. not released and was jailed in Dekalb County for
violating a previous court-order.

October, 1960, Freedom Christmas Cards went on sale. These cards were
developed by COAHR and netted $4700.00 profit for the Movement.

On November 25, 1960, students resumed their protests resumed protests.
Over 200 students sat-in and picketed at Rich's, Davison's, Woolworth's,
two Walgreen's drug stores, two H.L. Green stores, and several
Lane-Rexall Stores, as well as W.T. Grant, McCrory, Newberry, and Kress
five-and-dine stores.

November 26, 1960, a large number of adults joined the picket lines with
the students. This was the first time the "old Guard" Negro leaders had
joined with the younger Negro Leaders to fight the segregation battle.

The Ku Klux Klan staged a counter picket line urging continued
segregation of the races. They came from throughout the Southeastern
United States to Atlanta to stop the desegregation movement. They
asserted to an Atlanta Police undercover agent that they came to Atlanta
because if segregation fell in Atlanta, it would fall throughout the
South due to Atlanta's strategic location and prominence.

On or about December 7th, 1960, COAHR members, along with Maurice
Pennington of the Atlanta nquirer, embarked on a bus trip to
test the Boynton v Virginia, a case which outlawed interstate
segregation on busses. They sent teams to Birmingham, Alabama,
Jacksonville, Florida, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Columbia, SC. Several
students and Mr. Pennington were arrested.

December 11, 1960, at 6:00 AM, in the rain, 8,000 Negroes assembled in a
mass meeting at Herndon Stadium in the rain to show their support for
the Movement and the boycott. They subsequently marched to Hurt Park for
another rally.

On or about January 15, 1961, COAHR approved a winter campaign that was
to begin on February 1, 1961. Lonnie King announced an extension of the
Christmas Boycott to run through the Easter season on February 1, 1961.

February 7, 1961, 17 students were arrested for violating the
Anti-Trespass Laws of the State of Georgia. This was the beginning of
the winter campaign.

March 6th, 1961, Lonnie King, Herschelle Sullivan are asked by Jesse
Hill to come to a secret urgent meeting at the Chamber of Commerce. The
meeting had been arranged by A.T. Walden and Ivan Allen Jr. Purpose of
the meeting was to get a written agreement to end the boycott, and
integrate the lunch-counters. King and Sullivan had no knowledge of what
the meeting was about until they entered the room. The result was a
signed agreement to end lunch counter segregation in over 300 eating
establishments in Atlanta and the re-hiring of approximately 500 to 600
Negro employees who had been fired during the sit-in campaign. This was
the first time that any white group in the South had signed an agreement
to end segregation in any area.

March 10, 1961, mass meeting held at Warren Memorial with over 2000
people in attendance. Purpose: To challenge the agreement made on March
6, 1961.

Martin Luther King Jr. saves the agreement with the most eloquent speech
of his life.

COAHR challenged his action along with other Negro citizens. A law suit
was filed and won that ordered the removal of the wall. (Note: Former
Mayor Hartsfield later told Mayor Allen never make a mistake that can be
photographed).